The Dubai Tour belonged to Marcel Kittel, who won all three road stages on the emirate. At Paris-Nice it was John Degenkolb’s turn to shine as a stage win and a day in the yellow jersey, before topping the points classification, marked a very successful eight days in France. Now, Luka Mezgec has reminded Giant-Shimano’s selectors they have more than just the German duo in their sprint armoury. His stage one victory, leading out an incredibly long sprint and comfortably lasting the distance, was hugely impressive. And his stage two win was certainly no less of an achievement.

The Slovenian sprinter read the road and the situation perfectly, bursting out into clean road to storm to another comprehensive win as Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) jostled for space on the opposite side. Once again, Mezgec went long and once again there was no answer to his acceleration. So where does that leave the team? Last year both Mezgec and Degenkolb rode the Giro, the Slovenian coming to the fore after Degenkolb abandoned halfway through. With Kittel seemingly set for the Tour it leaves a big selection headache for team bosses, and it remains to be seen who will be chosen to lead the way in Ireland and Italy in May.